A 

0 
0 

0 : 
5 : 

8  ! 

8  : 

7  = 
3  : 

9  I 

3  - 


SPEECH  OF  3IR.  DAVIS 

OF    MASSACHUSETTS, 


ON 


THE  SUB-TREASURY  BILL, 

L\  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
JANUARY    23,    1840. 


Published  by  the  Whig  Republican  Association  of  Boston. 
Tklrd  edition  of  10,000  copies. 


The  Sub-Treasury  bill  being  under  consideration,  and  the  Sen- 
ate having  evinced  a  determination  not  to  adjourn  without  takincr  the 
question  upon  the  final  passage  of  the  bill — 

Mr.  Davis  said  :  I  rise,  Mr.  President,  with  great  reluctance  at 
this  late  hour  to  address  the  Senate,  fatigued  as  it  is  with  an  unusu- 
ally long  session,  and  exhausted  by  the  debate;  but,  painful  as  it  is 
I  must  entreat  their  indulgence  while  I  make  a  brief  reply  to  the 
new  doctrines  which  have  been  now,  for  the  first  time,  published 
here,  and  come  to  us  through  channels  that  leave  no  doubt  of  their 
being  the  doctrines  of  the  Administration.  They  involve  and  have 
drawn  into  this  deJKite  great  and  momentous  considerations,  affect- 
ing the  most  cherished  interest  of  the  people  I  represent,  as  well  as 
of  jiearly  the  whole  country.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  incident- 
al remarks  made  by  me  a  day  or  two  ago,  no  one  from  the  North 
and  East  has  addressed  you  during  this  discussion  ;  and  as  .some 
part  of  the  debate  has  been  pointed  in  its  character,  and  directed  to 
me  porsonally,  as  if  the  position  .issumcd  were  incapal)le  of  refutation 
I  feel  urged  by  an  irresistible  sense  of  duty — nay,  1  cannot  recon- 
cile mysolf  to  forbear  from  making  some  reply. 

Tlif  Senator  from  Mississippi,  (Mr.  Walker)  with  his  usual  ac- 
knowledged ability,  and  the  distiniriiished  Senator  from  Pennsylva- 
nia, Mr.  Buchanan  following  in  bis  track,  have  advanced  the  prop- 
ositions that  the  embarra.ssments  and  distress  with  which  the  country 
has  been  grievously  afilicfed  for  several  years  past,  and  wliirh  now 
paraly/e  all  its  energies,  are  impiitalilc  to  the  jjernicious  inlliiencc  of 
bank  paper;  that  this  bill  contains  thf  necessary  corrective,  as  it 
will  clifck  the  im|if»rtations  of  iorei^n  goods,  suppress  what  they  call 
the  credit  system,  and,  by  restoring  a  specie  currency,  reduce  the 
wages  of  the  laborer,  once  the  value  of  property. 

This  is  the  character  given  to  the  measure  by  its  friends;    and, 


'') 


2 

jilarniing  as  the  doctrines  are,  I  am  gratified  that  they  arc  frankly 
avowed.  I  have  been  anticipated,  to  a  considerable  extent,  by  the 
Senator  from  Mississippi,  (Mr.  Henderson.)  In  what  I  have  to  say,  1 
shall,  however,  confine  myself  chielly  to  the  speech  of  the  Senator 
from  I'einisvlvania,  who  lias  gone  more  in  detail  into  the  subject,  for 
we  all  acknowledge  his  ability  on  this  floor,  and  his  capacity  to  do 
ample  justice  to  the  subjects  which  he  discusses. 

1  do  not  propose  to  follow  him  through  a  very  large  portion  of  his 
elaborate  argument  to  prove  that  Executive  power  has  of  late  been 
shunned  instead  of  sought  after,  or  that  the  present  and  the  old  Bank 
of  the  United  States  are  identical,  and  both  national  banks.  Enough 
has  been  said  on  these  points.  He  has,  however,  asserted  that  we 
have  abandoned  all  the  arguments  which  we  have  before  used  against 
the  Sub-Treasury,  because  the  progress  of  events  has  prore  them 
unsound.  Not  so  ;  far  from  it.  With  others,  I  entered  into  that 
debate,  which  is  before  the  public,  and  the  arguments  unrefuted 
stand  as  firm  as  ever ;  but  it  would  be  a  profitless  task  to  reiterate 
them  here,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  they  are  passed  over  in  the 
discussion. 

But,  sir,  I  will  not  dwell  upon  any  of  these  matters,  but  go  to  that 
in  hand.  The  Senator  says  we  labor  under  distressing  embarrass- 
ments, and  so  we  do;  no  one  will  have  the  hardihood  to  deny  it,  for 
all  the  country  in  sorrow  bears  testimony  to  it.  We  have,  it  is  true, 
seen  an  occasional  gleam  of  light,  but  it  has  been  soon  obscured, 
and  we  have  been  shrouded  in  a  gloomy  uncertainty.  He  says  fur- 
ther, that  the  cause  is  the  excessive  issue  of  bank  paper,  speculation, 
and  a  bloated  (T  use  his  words)  credit  system.  He  lodges  the  guilt 
on  the  backs  of  the  banks  alone.  It  is  neither  just  nor  fair  to  hold 
them  alone  responsible,  and  I  will  make  it  manifest  by  showing  that 
they  were  seduced  into  their  errors  by  the  Administration. 

Before  the  late  President  (Jackson)  seized  the  public  money  and 
took  it  into  his  own  custody,  in  1833,  there  was  no  complaint  about 
the  currency ;  all  the  people  know  this,  for  all,  even  the  President 
himself  in  one  of  his  messages,  united  in  declaring,  in  substance,  it 
was  sound,  and  equal  to  that  of  any  nation  on  earth.  There  was  no 
complaint,  no  inconvenience,  no  embarrassments,  from  this  source, 
in  dfjing  business;  but  contentment  and  satisfaction  everywhere. 
About  this  there  could  be  no  mistake,  nor  will  any  one  here  attempt 
to  refute  the  well-known  facts. 

But  from  that  act  of  the  President,  which  was  the  first  movement 
to  reform  the  currency,  to  this  day,  there  has  been  what  the  Senator 
has  been  pleased  to  call  "  expansion,  contraction,  and  explosion,"  in 
rapid  and  fearful  succession  ;  crisis  upon  crisis,  pressure  upon  pres- 
sure, panic  upon  panic,  have  succeeded,  till  we  have  reached  a  state 
of  suspicion  and  alarm  that  has  deranged  and  almost  suspended  busi- 
ness. The  storm  in  its  fury  has  swept  over  the  country,  once  and 
again  uprooting  the  stateliest  and  firmest  trees,  and  leaving  in  its 
track  a  dreary,  desolate  waste.  Its  marks  are  too  deeply  engraven, 
too  distinct,  too  well  defined,  to  leave  any  thing  uncertain — any 
thing  equivocal.  It  fell  upon  us  with  such  withering  energy,  as  to 
leave  no  doubt  when,  where  and  how  it  began. 


Gentlemen  may  tax  their  ingenuity,  they  may  task  their  inven- 
tions, to  discover  other  causes  of  distress — they  may  belabor  and  hold 
up  to  scorn  and  execration  the  banks  as  long  as  they  please — they 
cannot  cliange  the  facts,  for  they  cannot  obliterate  history.  Things 
were  well,  and  every  body  knows  it,  till  1833.  Then  began  the 
bank  reform  by  the  removal  of  the  deposites — and  then  began  this 
rapid  series  of  "  expansion,  contraction  and  explosion" — then  follow- 
ed crisis  after  crisis — then  came  the  derangement  of  the  exchancres, 
and  the  embarrassments  which  have  overwhelmed  the  country — then 
came,  too,  the  nine  hundred  banks  of  which  the  Senator  speaks, 
though  he  has  probably  swelled  the  number   beyond  historical  truth. 

The  Senator  admits,  what  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  Administra- 
tion proposed  and  carried  into  effect  the  State  bank  deposite  system. 
It  was  in  this  place  and  by  them  that  State  banks  were  taken  into 
favor,  petted,  and  boastingly  held  out  to  the  country  as  affording  a 
better  and  safer  currency.  Into  them  was  the  revenue  put  in  enor- 
mous sums,  and  they  were  directed  to  loan  freely  upon  it  by  the 
President  for  the  accommodation  of  the  people,  and  it  was  his  pride 
and  pleasure  to  make  known  to  us  that  the  public  money  was  thus 
employed,  instead  of  being  locked  vp  ;  a  striking  commentary  upon 
the  present  plan  of  vaults  and  safes,  Mr.  President. 

The  Senator  admits  that  this  was  the  policy  of  the  Administra- 
tion, and  that  the  disastrous  consequences  predicted  by  the  Oppo- 
sition have  been  verified.  lie  micrht  have  crone  further:  for  it  is  truth 
equally  undeniable,  that  this  policy  sowed  the  seed  of  nearly  or  quite 
one  half  of  the  whole  number  of  banks — between  ei^ht  and  nine  hun- 
dred — and  of  more  than  one  half  of  tlie  capital ;  that  it  was  the  parent 
of  tlie  paper  "  expansion,  contraction  and  explosion,"  of  which  he  has 
spoken  of  in  terms  of  just  severity ;  that  it  is  alike  the  parent  of  the 
bloated  credit  system,  which  he  affirms  has  made  us  all  gamblers ; 
and  that  the  mad  specidation  which  raged  over  the  country,  and  has 
furnished  the  theme  for  declamation  and  denunciation  in  these  halls 
for  three  years  pa.st,  was  begotten  by  it.  Such  are  the  facts,  and  on 
tlie  projectors  of  this  policy  let  the  responsibility  rest.  We  had  had 
no  "  e.xjjansions,  contractions,  or  exj)losions,"  for  a  long  peri(;d  that 
(lid  not  fairly  belong  to  the  vibrations  of  trade;  none  that  excited 
alarm  or  seriously  distiirberl  public  confidence,  till  we  came  to  this 
reforming  i>olicy  ;  hut  since  then  the  |)ui)lic  mind  Ikis  scarcely  been 
traiiquilized.  Ju  1^34  came  the  first  fell  swoo|),  which  overturned 
and  bankrupted  thousands;  and  it  originated  here.  In  '35-(J,  came 
the  great  era  of  bank-making  and  trading  upon  fiie  public  money,  then 
accumulated  to  sixty  or  seventy  millions,  as  nearly  as  I  rememlier, 
which  threw  the  country  into  a  feverish  excitement,  and  even  firm, 
well-balanced  minds  out  of  their  adjusfment.  There  w;is  a  rage  for 
fijrtune-making  and  fortune-hunting  such  as  had  never  been  witness- 
ed, and  which  nothing  but  this  policy  was  capable  of  generating. 
The  Senator  might  and  ought  to  have  limited  the  bloated  credit  sys- 
tem that  made  us  all,  as  he  affirms,  g.amblers,  in  this  jn-riod,  and  left 
the  offspring  to  stand  beside  its  parent  as  a  proof  of  the  di.sasters  of 
this  policy,  and  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  predictions  of  the  (Opposi- 
tion ;    for  go  together  ihey  must,  and  live    together  they  will  in    his- 


4 

tory ;  ami  no  Ropliistry,  no  inapnuity  can  ever  separate  them. 
Wlnlo  tlu>  Si'uator  admits  this  policy  to  belong  exclusively  to  the 
Administration,  and  to  have  been  strenuously  opposed  by  us,  and  its 
molaiu'lidlv  consoiiuenccs  predicted,  he  now  repudiates  it  as  errone- 
ous, and  we  imist  allow  to  him  and  his  iriend.s  whatever  credit  be- 
longs to  an  abandonment  of  it  after  it  had  literally  exploded,  and  the 
mischief  w;is  accomi)!isli(>d.  But,  sir,  he  and  they  must  be  remind- 
ed that  1  could,  if  1  would,  read  from  the  messages  of  the  President, 
and  from  the  successive  reports  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
language  of  exultation,  triumphing  in  the  entire  success  of  the  poli- 
cy, boasting  that  the  currency  was  on  a  better  footing  than  ever, 
lliat  the  exchanges  were  greatly  improved,  and  that,  too,  at  the  very 
moment  when  the  bloated  credit  was  most  expanded,  and  speculation 
was  the  most  rife  and  rank.  Such  was  the  delusion  that  the  madness 
which  had  seized  multitudes  was  trumpeted  forth  as  evidence  of  suc- 
cess and  general  prosperity.  The  Senator  clearly  reasons  from  false 
premises  when  he  makes  the  banks  the  origin  of  our  embarrassments, 
for  they  were  only  instruments  in  the  hands  of  those  who  projected 
the  measures  that  have  made  them  what  they  are. 

But  the  Senator  goes  further,  and  traces  the  evils  of  banks  and 
bank  paper  into  England,  and  alleges,  without  qualification,  that  from 
this  cause  business  there  is  as  badly  paralyzed  as  it  is  here  ;  and  I 
am  not  about  to  make  an  issue  upon  that  point,  for  I  must  hurry  on 
to  other  matters.  He  makes  an  inference,  however,  which  I  must 
notice,  lie  says  that  to  this  circumstance  alone  we  owe  our  ability 
to  manufacture  goods.  If  England  was  a  hard  money  country,  our 
mills  and  hammers  would  all  be  silent;  but  the  paper  system  so 
raises  the  price  of  wages,  and  consequently  the  price  of  production, 
that  she  cannot  send  forth  her  goods  so  cheap  as  she  otherwise 
could,  or  so  cheap  as  they  are  made  in  hard  money  countries,  where 
wages  are  lower.  And  do  we  owe  our  success  to  this  folly  ?  Do 
we  stand  upon  such  a  slippery  basis,  having  no  foothold  but  upon  an 
error  of  policy,  stupidly  persisted  in  ?  I  desire  to  be  informed  how 
the  hard  monoy  countries,  as  they  are  called — Italy,  Spain,  Holland, 
Trance  and  Germany — for  they  have  all  been  put  into  that  class, 
though  not  with  strict  historical  accuracy — stand  the  competition  of 
Knidand,  with  her  bloated  credits?  Yes,  how,  sir,  do  they  figure  in 
the  competition?  Who  has  supplied  our  markets  and  the  markets 
of  the  world  I  If  metalic  currency  makes  production  cheaper — if  it 
gives  vantage  ground  to  a  country  in  the  general  round  of  trade, 
how  is  it  that  these  nations  have  not  long  since  run  England  out  of 
our  market  with  their  cheaper  goods?  How  is  it  that  we  draw  an- 
nually from  Eiifrland  two-fold  more  of  imports  than  from  all  the  residue 
of  Europe?  Why  is  it  that  they,  especially  France,  shut  their  ports 
again.st  most  kinds  of  English  goods,  to  protect  their  own  manufac- 
tures? Why  is  the  same  policy  pursued  elsewhere?  In  these  coun- 
tries the  hard  money  scheme  has  had  a  long,  full,  and  faithful  trial, 
and  we  know  the  result.  England,  without  any  advantages  over 
them  in  our  ports,  has  overwhelmed  them  with  her  competition ;  and 
HO  it  is  wlienever  trade  is  open  to  her  upon  a  footing  of  equality  with 
them. 


Is  it  not,  Mr.  President,  a  surprising  fact  that  the  Senators  who 
have  spoken  upon  this  subject  have  selected  the  two  most  free,  most 
commercial  nations — nations  which,  by  their  extraordinary  enter- 
prise and  their  unsurpassed  knowledge  of  business,  have  carried 
their  trade  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  earth,  and  excelled  all  others 
in  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  and  the  enjoyments  it  brings  with  it — 
nations  highly  civilized,  and  standing  among  the  most  enlightened  on 
the  Globe — as  the  examples  of  unwise,  imprudent  and  vicious  gov- 
ernment— so  destitute  of  the  first  principles  of  political  economy  as 
to  waste  the  products  of  their  labor  through  the  unseen  and  incom- 
prehensible influence  of  bank  paper  ? 

There  is  no  denying  that  they  have  outrun  all  others  in  prosperity 
while  ii}  the  use  of  this  paper,  and  yet,  according  to  the  theory  of  the 
Senator,  they  have  all  the  time  labored  under  a  most  oppressive  pol- 
icy, bloating  wages  and  property,  while  it  has  been  the  happy  lot  of 
other  countries  to  live  under  the  auspicious  influence  of  hard  mon- 
ey. Spain,  Italy,  France,  Holland,  Germany,  on  the  other  hand, 
have  become  pattern  nations,  distinguished  for  their  wisdom,  and 
also  for  tlie  happy  condition  of  their  laborers,  who,  doubtless,  failing 
to  realize  their  condition,  escape,  whenever  they  can,  to  this  coun- 
try or  some  other  part  of  this  continent. 

But,  sir,  I  must  leave  this  topic  and  go  to  another.  The  Senator 
assures  us  that  this  paper  brings  with  it  this  alarming  attribute — as 
it  expands  and  contracts,  so  property  and  wages  rise  and  fill  ;  thus 
making  it  the  vital  principle  of  the  body  politic,  giving  to  it  pulsa- 
tion. In  speaking  of  paper,  I  once  and  for  all,  wish  always  to  be 
understood  as  meaning  the  paper  of  sound  specie-paying  banks,  re- 
deemable at  sight,  unless  I  otlierwise  specify.  Is  this  a  sound  ax- 
iom of  the  Senator  ?  Is  bank  paper  the  sole  or  chief  regulator  of 
the  value  of  wages  and  property  1  If  so,  whenever  there  is  a  com- 
mon currency  there  siiouid  i)e  a  uniform  price.  Let  us  see  how  the 
position  is  sustained  in  the  T'liitf-d  States,  where  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  we  have  banks.  The  Senator  from  Mississippi  (Mr.  Hen- 
derson) stated  that  the  service  of  an  ordinary  laborer,  which  woidd 
cost  fifteen  dollars  in  his  part  of  the  country,  he  had  ascertained 
could  be  had  at  Pittsburg  for  a  quarter,  or  less,  of  that  sum,  and  in 
New  England,  as  I  understood  liim,  for  about  half.  Every  body 
knows  tlic  vast  difference  in  the  expense  of  living  between  Boston 
and  New  Orleans*,  and  bftwo(;n  New  York  anfl  any  remote  country 
town.  But  how  is  it  with  hard  money  countries '?  Expenses  of  all 
sorts  are  urKjuestionably  four-fold  L'^reatcr  in  Havana  than  in  Flor- 
ence; and  I  might  go  on  nudtipiying  cxainplrs,  for  it  is  iniicli  more 
ditficult  to  find  two  places  that  correspond  iIkim  two  that  are  at  vari- 
ance. Does  it  not  follow  that  currency,  while  it  nn(loul)t((lly  has  an 
influence,  is  not  even  tlie  principal  cause  of  this  diversity  '. 

But,  sir,  I  caimot  dwell  on  this.  The  Senator  conteiuled,  by  an 
ingenious  argument,  that  a  reduction  of  wages  would  be  beneficial 
to  the  hiborcr,  because  property  would  necessarily  fall  in  the  snnie 
ratio,  and,  in  the  fervor  of  debate,  addressing  New  England  tlirfmgh 
me,  he  appeals  to  her  to  embrace  this  alternative  as  a  resource  to  res- 
cue her  manufacturers  from  the  ruin  which  lays  in  proi'pect.  Embrace 


6 

wlint,  ]\Ir.  President?  How  will  a  corresponding  fall  of  wages  and 
property  aid  the  laborer  1  How  is  his  condition  to  be  improved  by 
it  1  The  most  that  can  be  said  is,  that  his  relative  condition  is  un- 
changed. But  can  he  embrace  the  degraded  condition  of  by  far  the 
larger  class  of  laborers  in  England  and  Ireland,  where  the  alms- 
houses are  filled  with  paupers,  and  those  who  support  themselves 
struggle  for  life?  Can  he  descend  a  grade  lower,  to  hard  money 
Italy,°whcre,  as  the  authority  read  by  the  Senator  from  Maryland 
(Mr.  Merrick)  will  prove,  but  I  will  not  stop  to  read  it,  wages  are 
three-pence  a  day?  Is  it  an  invitation  to  abandon  the  physical,  mor- 
al, and  intellectual  comforts  and  enjoyments  which  surround  the  in- 
dustrious man  here,  and  descend  to  the  deplorable  condition  of  those 
who  fly  from  their  country  to  this  as  a  place  of  refuge  for  the  poor, 
the  naked,  and  the  hungry? 

But,  sir,  as  I  have  more  to  say  of  this  in  a  more  appropriate  con- 
nexion, I  shall  pass  it  for  the  present,  with  a  single  remark — if  such 
are  the  advantages  of  other  countries,  why  do  the  poor  emigrate 
hither,  and  why  do  not  our  citizens  emigrate  thither  ? 

I  will  now  notice  the  effects  upon  the  public  policy  which  are 
imputed  to  this  bill.  We  have  always  been  told  that  it  was  a  simple 
proposition  to  divorce  the  Government  from  the  banks,  so  as  to  ena- 
ble it  to  hold  its  own  money,  and,  therefore,  harndess  in  its  charac- 
ter, as  it  would  affect  nothing  else. 

But,  sir,  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  while  he  declares  that  he 
is  not  for  an  exclusive  hard  money  currency,  or,  in  other  words,  is 
not  hostile  to  well-regulated  State  banks,  if  they  can  be  well-regulat- 
ed, as  he  expresses  himself,  argues  that  this  bill  will  diminish  impor- 
tations, suppress  credit,  and  stop  speculation,  by  modifying  the  cur- 
rency so  far  as  to  work  out  these  extraordinary  ends. 

I  am  by  no  means  satisfied  that  it  is  capable  of  producing  all  these 
consequences,  but,  as  such  a  power  is  imputed  to  it  by  its  warmest 
friends,  and  those  who  are  in  the  councils  and  confidence  of  the  Ad- 
ministration, who  bring  it  forward,  and  no  doubt  bring  it  forward 
with  this  view  and  expectation,  I  shall,  in  this  reply,  confine  myself 
to  the  positions  assumed.  That  it  will  do  the  country  no  good  I 
have  never  doubted  ;  but  I  have  never  allowed  myself  to  believe  that 
it  can  exert  that  influence  upon  its  affairs  which  is  ascribed  to  it. 

If  it  will  diminish  importations  in  the  right  way,  so  fiir  it  has  my 
most  hearty  concurrence,  for  they  have  run  into  an  injurious  excess. 
This  again  is  the  result  of  a  false  policy,  not  imputably  to  paper,  as 
the  Senator  supposes,  even  as  a  principal  cause.  It  comes  of  en- 
couraging foreign  labor  instead  of  our  own  ;  of  stimulating  this  trade 
under  the  persuasion  that  it  is  more  beneficial  to  the  country  than  to 
strengthen  and  foster  our  own  industry,  until  it  has  reached  a  point 
of  injurious  excess,  suspending  our  laborers  from  employment  and 
taking  from  them  their  bread.  We  buy  more  than  we  sell,  leaving 
a  balance  of  many  millions  now  due  to  Europe,  which  is  to  be  paid 
out  of  the  resources  of  the  People ;  and  it  is  time  to  retrace  our 
steps.  The  President,  who  has  been  a  promoter  of  this  policy,  com- 
plains in  his  message  of  this  excess  as  a  serious  evil,  and  I  rejoice  at 
it ;    but  he  fails  to  indicate  the  remedy.    He  talks  vaguely  of  econo- 


my,  but  is  silent  upon  our  great  interests  of  the  North  and  East. 
We  must,  sir,  stand  by  our  own  laborers,  and  not  suffer  them  to  be 
overwhelmed  by  this  process,  and  then  appeal  to  them  to  lower  their 
wages.  Our  duty  is  plain,  and  we  must  pursue  it  with  manly  firm* 
ness.  The  workshops  of  Europe  must  not  be  allowed  to  super- 
sede ours.  This  is  the  remedy.  But  the  bill  will  suppress  ordit — 
suppress  bloated  credit!  What,  sir,  is  credit?  One  would  think  it 
some  new  invention  to  defraud  the  Public,  by  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  spoken  of;  but  it  is  co-existent  with  business,  and  wherever 
there  is  or  has  been  business,  there  credit  has  always  existed,  and 
has  been  and  will  be  abused  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  I  cannot 
comprehend  how  commerce  or  trade  can  be  carried  on  successfully 
without  it !  Abolish  credit,  and  for  what?  Because  the  false  policy 
of  the  Administration  in  1835 — '3(5 — stimulated  it  to  excess  !  Be- 
cause, like  the  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  it  may  be  abused! 
I  know  of  no  other  period  against  which  any  general  and  just  charge 
can  be  brought. 

What  would  be  the  condition  of  the  country  if  men  were  denied 
credit  ?  Nothing  more  deplorable.  The  young  man  born  to  no  in- 
heritance now  goes  into  the  world  with  his  character  for  honesty  and 
integrity  ;  this  is  his  great  and  only  resource,  and  by  the  faith  placed 
in  this  he  commands  the  funds  necessary  to  go  forward  in  business. 
And,  Mr.  President,  it  is  one  of  the  glorious  characteristics  of  our  in- 
stitutions that  this  path  is  open  to  his  enterprise,  and  the  way  to  wealth, 
as  well  as  to  honor  and  fame,  is  clear  of  obstructions  for  the  most 
obscure  and  humble  individual.  Shall  we  deny  to  such  the  only 
chance  they  have  of  success?  Shall  we  trample  on  them,  and  grind 
them  to  dust  with  the  iron  heel  of  power  ?  No,  sir,  I  will  espouse 
no  such  anti-republican  doctrines.  I  will  vote  for  no  law  that  de- 
clares to  the  poor  that  they  shall  remain  in  hopeless  poverty,  and  to 
the  rich  that  they  alone  shall  have  the  eiijoymont  of  property. 

But  speculation  is  to  be  put  down.  If  the  Senator  means  by  spec- 
ulation, unwise  and  hazardous  traffic,  it  has  always  existed,  and 
always  will  exist,  where  enterprise  exists,  unless  he  can  U]>root  the 
desire  in  the  human  mind  for  the  sudden  ac(|uisition  of  wealth.  He 
might  as  well  undertake  to  stop  the  emotions  and  passions  of  the  hu- 
man Ijeart.  The  only  way  to  make  men  prudent  and  sagacious  in 
business — and  it  is  very  desirable  they  should  be  so — is  to  make 
them  see  far  enough  into  the  future  to  avoid  ruinous  hazards  ;  but 
thf  rash,  who  oflfii  have  a  j)a.ssion  for  wealth,  will  indulge  illusive 
liKpfs  and  makf  ruinous  bargains,  luiless  the  Senator  can  enlarge 
their  understandings  and  increase  their  sagacity. 

There  is  but  one  process  by  which  credit  and  speculation  can  be 
suppressed,  ami  that  is,  by  denying  the  means  and  facilities  of  busi- 
ness, not  to  sj)fculators  aloiu-,  but  to  all ;  and  th.nt  is  exactly  what 
the  argument  of  the  Senator  tends  to.  lie  proposes  to  diininish  the 
circulation,  declaring  that  there  is  an  iiiHation,  when  we  are  crippled 
down  by  the  scarcity  of  money.  Ife  wouM  (iirninisli  to  a  vast  cxleut 
the  resources  and  ability  of  lenders,  wlu  n  the  I'nblic  is  in  despair  for 
want  «)f  cirrnlafion.  He  assumes  that  (litiiiiiishing  the  currency  will 
diininish  wages  and  the  value  of  properly,  and  so  it  may  be;    but  the 


first  frrcat  nnd  abidin<T  result  will  he  .1  (liniinulion  of  business.  Ili'^i 
theory  abolishes  credit,  and  leaves  nothing  but  a  reduced  currency  to 
do  business  with,  and  no  one  can  deny  that  a  reduction  of  business 
must  follow.  Is  the  country  prepared  for  this  ?  Do  we  grow  too 
fast?  Is  our  enterprise  too  great?  Do  we  labor  too  much?  Have 
we  too  much  to  cat,  driidc,  or  wear  ?  Are  our  comforts  and  enjoy- 
ments so  much  nudtiplied  that  a  sound  policy  requires  they  should 
be  curtailed  ?  "VVMiat  response  will  the  People  give  to  these  inquiries  ? 
Let  liini  who  is  willing  to  be  pared  down  first  stand  forth  and  pro- 
claim it.  Wages  are  to  be  diminished  by  curtailing  the  demand  for 
them  ;  for  that  is  the  effect  of  reducing  business. 

The  Senator,  in  his  argument,  seemed  to  forget  that  the  evils  of 
a  contracting  and  contracted  currency  bear  as  oppressively  upon 
the  public,  and  more  so,  than  those  of  expansion.  The  difference  is 
this  :  in  expansion,  the  weight  of  loss  falls  on  the  creditor  portion — 
in  contraction,  upon  the  debtor  portion  :  but  in  either  case  it  is  a 
grievous  calamity.  He  cannot  reduce  the  currency  below  what  is 
necessary,  without  even  more  suffering  than  arises  from  too  much. 

The  Senator  from  Mississippi  (Mr.  Walker)  goes  for  the  abolition 
of  paper.  The  quantity  of  specie  in  the  country  is  not  supposed  to 
exceed  about  $85,000,000.  This  he  argues  would  ensure  a  great 
reduction  of  wages  and  of  the  value  of  property,  which  he  insists  will 
be  beneficial.  The  Senator  from  Missouri  (Mr.  Benton)  is  also  for 
metal  alone  ;  and  those  gentlemen  have  bestowed  the  highest  enco- 
miums  upon  the  policy  of  the  hard  money  countries.  The  latter  ia 
enchanted  with  the  fact  that  the  Hollanders  have  grown  rich  and  be- 
come great  lenders  of  money,  while  we  are  borrowers ;  and  I  will  soon 
solve  to  him  this  enigma  upon  his  own  principles.  He  imputes  it  to 
gold,  and  infers  that  we  should  be  lenders  if  we  had  a  metalic  curren- 
cy only.  Who,  Mr.  President,  are  the  lenders  of  Holland  ?  Those 
individuals  who  have  amassed  millions;  who  at  one  time  owned  most 
of  this  city,  and  who  can  buy  up  empires  with  their  boundless  wealth, 
having  profited  by  a  state  of  things  which  made  the  privileged  few  rich 
while  the  many  are  left  poor — while  the  laborer,  as  I  can  prove,  gets 
but  his  3fZ  and  id  a  day.  This  is  the  last  policy  we  desire;  the  last 
that  would  be  in  harmony  with  the  genius  of  our  people  or  in  uni- 
son with  their  true  interests.  It  is  diffusive  wealth  that  we  desire  ; 
a  general  prosperity  among  all ;  property  scattered  every  where,  at- 
tainable by  all  that  deserve  it ;  and  thus  invigorating  a  successful 
business,  in  which  all  may  participate,  instead  of  amassing  it  in  the 
pockets  of  a  few.  We  are  borrowers ;  be  it  so.  It  is  better,  infin- 
itely better,  to  borrow  and  thus  diffuse  capital,  to  excite  industry 
and  enterprise,  than  to  amass  it  in  heaps  and  become  lenders  to  na- 
tions, with  a  nation  of  paupers  at  home. 

But,  sir,  I  fear  I  have  dwelt  too  long  on  these  matters,  and  will 
hasten  to  notice  that  for  which  I  chiefly  rose.  Much  has  been  said 
of  labor,  and  what  is  it  ?  I  may  say,  without  offence,  it  is  a  com- 
modity bought  and  sold  like  merchandise  in  the  market.  A  man 
has  his  skill  and  service  to  sell  to  whomsoever  will  buy  them,  and 
his  anxious  desire  is  to  obtain  the  most  liberal  renumeration.  The 
Senator  says  the  value  of  it  ia  regulated  by  bank  paper.    Not  so,  Mr. 


President,  not  so  ;  but  chiefly  by  the  amount  in  market,  and  the  de- 
mand which  exists  for  it ;  currency  may,  hoAvever,  at  times  have  its 
influence.  If  tlie  supply  is  great  and  the  demand  small,  then  wages 
are  necessarily  low;  but  if  the  supply  be  small  and  the  demand  great, 
they  are  high.  When  buisness  is  flourishing,  the  demand  is  urgent, 
and  wages  rise  ;  when  it  is  depressed,  the  demand  diminishes,  and 
wages  full.  Hence,  too,  in  countries  densely  populated,  the  supply 
is  necessarily  greater,  in  proportion  to  the  business,  than  in  coun- 
tries thinly  peopled.  Thus  we  see  why  wages  in  a  great  country, 
new  and  full  of  resources,  like  ours,  are  in  quick  demand,  while  in 
China,  where  there  is  a  vast  surplus  of  population,  the  market  is 
overstocked,  and  they  are  low.  Hence,  too,  it  is,  that  in  such  con- 
ditions of  society  we  always  find  the  greatest  poverty,  sulfering,  and 
degradation.  Bank  paper  is  obviously  not  the  sole  or  chief  cause 
which  fi.xes  the  value  of  wages. 

But,  sir,  let  us  pursue  the  subject  a  little  further,  as  it  is  capable 
of  further  illustration. 

There  are  three  classes  of  laborers;  those  who  produce  from  the 
earth  are  agriculturalists ;  those  who  convert  the  products  of  the 
earth  into  useful  forms  are  manuficturers ;  aiid  those  who  are  engag- 
ed in  transporting  and  exchanging  the  products  of  the  other  classes 
are  commercial.  These  great  divisions  of  mankind  are  founded  on 
no  law  but  that  of  civilized,  social  existence  In  our  country,  at 
least,  each  and  every  person  may  pursue  any  or  all  kinds  of  business. 
But  experience  teaches  us  the  necessity  of  these  divisions,  for  wool, 
cotton,  and  flax  are  of  little  value  till  turned  into  cloth,  but  the  far- 
mer would  find  it  difficult  t(j  run  a  mill  to  make  cloths,  or  to  build 
and  siil  a  ship  to  take  his  jiroduce  to  market.  From  this  division, 
too,  come  our  markets.  We  must  have  food  and  clothing,  ami  we 
must  obtain  them  by  the  exchaiiije  c)f  the  products  of  labor,  but  we 
cannot  exchange  a  liorse  or  a  watch  Ibr  a  joint  of  meat  or  for  a  pair 
of  shoes;  such  property  must  first  be  broken  into  parts,  and  this  is 
the  peculiar  office  and  almost  the  only  use  of  money.  It  mensures 
tiie  valu':;  of  property,  and  brings  it  into  a  ll)rm  suit('<l  for  our  con- 
venience. Thi.s  is  the  relation  whirh  it  bears  to  business,  and  no 
other;  and,  whih;  1  admit  its  great  importance,  I  deny  that  it  lies  at 
the  foundation,  and  is  the  great  regulator  of  the  alViir/i  of  men,  as 
seems  here  to  be  supposed.  The  fricrnN  of  this  bill,  I  know,  a.--- 
sumc  that  we  have  an  inflation,  and  tint  money  rules,  guides,  and 
regulat's  business;  when,  in  truth,  tlie  inquiries  ought  to  be,  first, 
how  miicli  is  necessnrv  as  a  circulating  medium,  that  we  may  Unow 
whether  there  is  fui  excess  ;  and,  second,  does  paper  noccs."*arily  cre- 
ate an  expansion,  or  unnecessary  eidargenient  of  the  riirronry,  that 
we  may  judge  whether  it  ought  to  be  abandoned  ?  These  matfem 
which  are  a.ssiniu'<l,  are  prci-isely  what  ought  to  be  proved.  The 
Senators  assume  im  evident  truth  what  is  not  apparent.  'I'hcy  nflirm 
that  priper  becomes  rediimbnit,  excessive,  inflated.  But  lliev  do  not 
attempt  to  establish  the  fact  by  any  proof  Since  the  lirst  ol'  J  umn- 
ry,  1H38,  our  circulation  has  not  much  exceeded  one  hundred  niil- 
lions ;  it  may,  at  some  periods,  have  reached  one  hundred  and 
twMity,  iuclnbivu   of  niMtuI    and   pipur       lu   tliiw   cxcukgivs?      Huu   it 


10 

ronrhcd  n  point  nbnve  the  nroont  neccspitips  of  husiiiess  for  two 
years  past  ?     J  fit  has,  how  inurli  is  cuoiiffli  ? 

Some  days  ago,  I  put  tiiis  inquiry  distinctly  to  the  Senate,  and  it 
remains,  and  will  remain  unanswered.  If  it  can  be  proved  that  we 
have  too  nnich,  it  is  not  dithcult  to  ascertain,  with  sufHcient  exact- 
ness, what  amount  is  necessary.  I  desire  Senators  to  make  known 
the  process  by  which  they  arrive  at  their  conclusions  in  so  vitally 
an  important  matter.  They  seem  to  take  it  for  £rranted  that  there 
is  no  evil  but  expansion  to  fear,  while  nothing  is  more  certain  than 
that  too  small  a  circulating  medium  works  out  as  great  if  not  greater 
injuries  than  one  too  large. 

We  have  heard  much  declamation  about  bloated  credit,  gambling 
and  speculation,  but  if  the  existence  of  all  these  were  establislied  at 
this  moment  by  unquestionable  proof,  it  would  have  little  tendency 
to  establish  the  fact  of  excessive  circulation,  for  they  have  no  neces- 
sary connection,  but  each  may  exist  independent  of  the  other. 

Will  the  Senator  maintain  the  proposition  that  paper  cannot  and 
has  not  circulated  witliout  indation  or  excessive  credits  in  trade  gen- 
eridly  ?  I  go  further,  and  ask  him  if  excess  is  any  thing  more  than 
an  occasional  occurrence,  growing  out  of  markets  quickened  into 
activity  by  events  rather  casual  than  permanent  ?  Is  there  any  ex- 
cess of  paper  in  the  usual  course  of  business  from  sotmd  banks,  who 
redeem  and  are  able  to  redeem  their  paper  at  sight,  dollar  for  dollar 
in  metal  ?  It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  excess  ever  exists  under  such 
circumstances.  I  can  go  to-day  into  any  bank  in  Boston  or  New 
York,  and  draw  out  a  dollar  with  the  same  amount  of  paper,  and 
that  dollar  is  as  good,  and  will  buy  as  much  in  France  or  Germany 
as  any  dollar  there.  The  paper,  then,  is  clearly  worth  as  much  as 
the  silver,  for  it  buys  it.  If  the  paper  of  banks  is  maintained  at  this 
value,  and  so  redeemed  at  all  times,  it  is  not  easy  to  comprehend 
how  it  is  inflated,  or  that  more  is  in  circulation  than  is  needed  for 
use.  The  idea  of  inflation  presupposes  some  unsoundness.  All 
money,  mctalic  as  well  as  paper,  does  and  will  fluctuate  in  value, 
and,  if  this  be  inflation,  then  gold  and  silver  are  no  more  exempt 
from  it  than  paper.  It  is  by  no  means  easy  to  determine  which  fluc- 
tuates oftentimes — money  or  property.  Cotton  is  forty  dollars  to- 
day, to-morrow  it  is  thirty-five,  and  next  day  forty-five;  it  does  not 
follow  that  the  cotton  alone  has  fluctuated,  or  that  it  has  fluctuated 
at  all  ;  for  gold  and  silver  may  be  so  abundant  as  to  depress  the  val- 
ue of  property,  or  .so  scarce  as  to  raise  it.  It  is  every  day'.s  occur- 
rence to  find  gold  and  silver  fluctuatinsr  in  value,  commanding  atone 
time  a  premium,  and  then  none;  nay,  under  some  circumstances, 
falling  below  good  paper.  No  matter  what  we  have  for  curren- 
cy, there  will  be  fluctuations  in  its  value  greatly  affecting  trade,  as  a 
circulating  medium  of  uniform  amount  cannot  be  maintained  any 
more  than  you  can  limit  business  to  an  exact  amount. 

This  all  proves  what  seems  not  to  be  well  understood,  or  Senators 
would  reason  differently — that  there  is  but  one  way  to  determine 
how  much  circulation  is  necessary.  It  is  impossible  to  ascertain 
how  much  money  may  be  necessary  for  each  member  of  the  Senate 
for  ths  currant  year,   and  it  is  equally   impossible  to   anticipate  the 


II 

wants  of  the  great  Public.  The  question  is  left,  therefore,  to  be 
settled  by  the  laws  of  trade,  as  all  other  matters  of  business.  We 
learn  how  much  flour  and  corn  are  required  annually  by  the  demand 
for  them.  Just  so  vve  learn  how  much  money  is  required  to  carry 
forward  business,  by  the  ability  of  men  to  buy  i-.  So  much  is  neces- 
sary, be  the  amount  great  or  small ;  and,  in  a  growing  country,  it 
would  be  just  as  wise  to  limit  the  amount  of  produce  as  the  amount 
of  monetary  capital.  Surely  nothing  can  be  more  absurd  than  to 
attempt  to  determine  the  amount,  without  reference  to  the  exigencies 
of  the  country — to  say  that  eighty  millions,  or  any  other  arbitrary 
amount,  is  enough.  There  is  no  advantage  to  be  gained  by  lowering 
the  value  of  property, -unless  the  same  amount  of  labor,  or  the  same 
amount  of  property,  enables  us  to  obtain  more  of  tie  necessaries  of 
life.  This  fact  should,  therefore,  be  first  clearly  estfiblished,  for  the 
process  is  necessarily  attended  with  great  sacrifices.  The  Senator 
from  Pennsylvania  seems  to  understand  that  reducing  the  circulation 
will  reduce  property  and  wages  in  the  same  ratio.  If  it  does,  in  what 
is  our  condition  bettered,  even  if  we  could  reconcile  debtors  to 
it,  who  would  be  ruined  ?  lie  seems  to  believe  that  our  relations 
ill  foreign  trade  will  be  improved,  but  I  shall  show  him  his  error,  and 
that  he  ought  to  arrive  at  exactly  the  opposite  conclusion,  for  his 
theory,  if  carried  into  execution,  would  inflict  upon  the  laborer  as 
well* as  the  owner  of  property  the  most  injurious  and  oppressive  con- 
sequences. He  solenndy  affirms,  and  I  give  him  all  credit  for  sin- 
cerity, that  he  believes  a  reduction  in  wages  and  property  would  be 
beneficial.     Let  us  see. 

Suppose  that  wages  and  property  will  be  reduced  one-half  by  the 
lull — tint  is,  if  wages  arc  now  a  dollar  a  day,  they  will  be  half  a  dol- 
lar; and  if  heel"  and  mutton  are  now  eight  cents  a  pound,  they  will 
be  four  ;  and  so  of  all  the  productions  of  the  United  State,  i\nd  of 
all  property  created  here.  Upon  this  state  of  facts,  as  things  are,  the 
laborer,  would  iia\e,  at  the  expiration  of  twenty  days'  labor,  twenty 
«loll?rs,  to  provide  supplies  for  himself  and  family.  As  they  will  be, 
he  will  have  ten  dollars.  Now,  sir,  be  it  rcmemberd  that  we  buy 
and  .sell  in  foreign  markets  by  their  .standard  of  currency,  and  th;it 
lowering  wages  and  property  here,  is  to  have  no  etlect  there,  accord- 
intr  to  the  rot.soning  of  the  Senator,  :'s  their  currency  nuist  regulate 
the  price  of  their  wages  and  products;  but  cotton  is  to  sell  and  good.5 
are  to  be  bought  as  if  no  chMi^c  had  taken  place.  Goods,  thcreforo, 
will  come  into  this  country  no  rheappr.  If  then,  the  lalxircr  goes 
into  the  market  with  his  money,  as  his  wages  are,  he  will  have 
twenty  dollars  to  expend  in  tea,  colP'o,  sugar,  and  the  thousand  ne- 
cessaries which  comes  from  foreirrn  countries;  hut  if  he  goes  into  it 
as  they  will  be — ten  dollars  under  the  operation  of  the  new  theory — 
it  is  jdaiii,  therefore,  that  with  the  same  amount  of  labor  he  can  pur- 
<-lnse  but  half  as  much  foreign  merchandise;  in  other  words,  it  will 
in  elfect  be  doubled  in  price,  while  it  is  apparrntly  the  same. 

Hut  the  Senator  did  not  stoj)  here,  for  he  alleged  tli.it,  while  the 
laborer  would  be  in  a  better  condition,  the  exporter  ()!'  |)roducc — 
that  is,  cotton,  &-c. — would  derive  a  grc.'tcr  profit,  tlu;  meiisure  of 
which  would   be  the  amount  of  reduction  of  wages  and  of  property, 


12 

as  he  would  tliiis  bo   able  to  produce   ?o  much  cheaper.     To  make 
niyself  understood,  1  will   proceed    witli  the  same  supposition,   that 
w.'ijrcs  and  property  are  to  be  reduced  oue  half.     Then  his  theory  is, 
that  the  cotton-planter,  for  example,  would   produce  his  crop  at  half 
the  present  cost,  by  the   saviuff  in  labor   and   the  support  of  it,  and 
oonse<iuently  derive  double  profit.     That  he  would  produce  cheaper 
is  undeniably  true ;  and  if  he  should  sell   for  the  same  price  he  now 
does,  and  l)rinir  home  specie,  he  would  realize  double  profits,  provid- 
ed his  laborers  are   supported  wholly  on   the  products  of  the  United 
States.     This,  however,  is  not  the  course  of  trade  or  of  business. 
But  from  whence  would  the  profits  come  ?     Not  from  foreign  coun- 
tries, for  no  change  is  to  occur  there,  but  from  the  pockets  of  every 
consumer  of  foreign  goods  in   this  country,  for  the  change  is  wholly 
in  the  wages  and  produce  of  our  own  country.     The  idea  is  that  if 
wages  aiul  property  sink  together  one   half,  the  relative  positions  of 
the  laborer  and  the  owner  of  property  ara.  the  same,  for   the  laborer 
can  purchase  as  much  with  one-half  the  money,  and  the  same  amount 
of  property  will  purchase  as  much  labor  as  before.     But  the   laborer 
will,  at  the  end  of  any  given  period,  have  but   half  as  much   money, 
and  the  same  amount  of  property  will   be  worth  but  half  as  much  ; 
consequently,  all  the   surplus  gains  of  the   farmer,  mechanic,  manu- 
facturer, and  laborer,  will  be  l)ut  half  what  they  now  are,  in  nominal 
amount.     If  property  in  foreign  countries  should  descend  in  the  same 
ratio,  the  most  that  could  be   said  of  our  condition  is  that  it  is  no 
worse,  for  it   is  oI)viously  no  better.     But  if  we  descend   while  they 
rem.'.in   stationiry,   and   a  profit  is   thence  gained  to  the   e.xporter, 
nothing  is  plainer  than  that  such  profit   is  drawn  from  the  consumer 
of  foreign  merchandise,  as  it  will  take  twice  as  much  of  our  labor  or 
or  products  to  buy  it  as  is   now  required.     If  the  theory  establishes 
the  fact  that  the  exporter  is  to  reap  double  profits  for  cotton,  it  estab- 
lishes beyond   controversy  the  fact  fdso  that  that  profit  will   be  a  tax 
upon  every  man  that  consumes  a  foreign  article,  and  that  it  will  be 
wholly  drawn  from  their  pockets.     The  Senator  has  led  himself  into 
an  error,  by  supposing  that   foreign  productions  are  to  come  to   us 
cheaper,  while  our   exports  are  to   keep  up   where  they  are.     He 
thinks  the  importer  sells  in  a  market  inflated  by  paper,  and  realizes 
an  extraordinary  profit.     But   he  must  perceive  that  the  low  and  de- 
pressed state  of  the  working  classes  in  Europe  is  proof  enough  that 
no  excessive  profit  is  obtained  here  upon  goods — none  that  can  bear 
essential  reduction  ;  and  that  while   raw  cotton  maintains  its  price, 
foreign  goods   must   also  maintain  theirs.     In  the  great  competition 
of  trade,  this   idea  of  excessive   profit  to  the  iui])orter  is  fdlacious; 
and  as  the  notion  of  a  reduction  is  founded  on  it,  that  is  also  fallacious. 

To  follow  out  the  case  1  have  supposed  :  The  income  of  every 
man,  exce|>t  the  exporter,  is  to  be  reduced  one-half  in  the  value  of 
wages  and  property,  while  all  foreign  merchandise  will  cost  the  same, 
which  will  obviously,  in  effect,  double  the  price,  as  it  will  take  twice 
the  amount  of  labor,  or  twice  the  amount  of  the  products  of  labor, 
to  purchase  it. 

I  do  not  ascribe  this  power  to  the  bill,  but  it  is  enough  for  me 
that  its  friends  do.     What  response  will  the   farmers,  mechanics. 


13 

Tnnmifacturers,  and  laborers  make  to  such  a  flagitious  proposition  ? 
Can  they  be  reconciled  to  such  a  measure  of  oppression  ?  One  that 
extorts  from  the  fruits  of  their  industry  to  professedly  enrich  the 
planter  who  now  enjoys  a  prosperity  unequalled  in  the  rest  of  the 
country?  No,  sir,  such  plans  of  sectional  aggrandizement,  and  such 
a  disregard  of  the  interest  of  the  greatest  and  most  powerful  class  of 
people  in  our  country,  can  only  excite  their  disgust  and  indignation. 
Thus,  sir,  I  have  traced  the  benefits  of  this  bill,  if  it  have  any,  as  in- 
terpreted by  its  friends,  to  the  rich  and  powerful.  I  have,  if  I  mis- 
take not,  demonstrated  that  they  are  to  be  made  richer  by  a  tax  upon 
their  less  fortunate,  but  more  industrious  and  more  necessitous  fellow- 
citizens — a  tax  that  they  never  can  nor  never  will  submit  to,  so  long 
as  their  power  can  be  felt  through  the  ballot-box. 

But,  sir,  this  is  not  all.  While  we  are  thus  to  have  intolerable 
burdens  loaded  upon  us,  to  add  to  the  weight  of  our  embarrassments, 
an<i  to  increase  our  suHcrinfrs ;  and  while  the  del)tor  portion  of  the 
Public  are  to  be  crushed  and  ground  to  dust  between  the  upper 
and  nether  millstone  of  this  procei^s,  the  man  of  money  is  not  only  to 
escape  unharmed,  but  to  have  his  property  doubled.  lie  who  holds 
cash,  or  its  equivalent  in  notes,  bonds,  or  stocks,  will  be  able  to  buy 
double  the  amount  of  property  with  it,  and  will  therefore  have  its 
value  doubled  on  his  hand.s ;  for,  while  wages  and  propert)"  are  to  go 
down,  money  is  to  go  up  in  the  same  ratio. 

If  the  friends  of  this  bill  have  given  to  it  a  true  construction,  it  is 
a  bill  of  privileires  to  the  rich,  but  a  scourcje  to  all  others. 

What  is  the  debtor  portion  of  the  Public  ?  Is  it  so  insignificant 
ns  to  be  disregarded  ?  Sir,  I  will  venture  to  assert  that  the  amount 
of  existing  indobfcdness  in  any  conmiercial  country  is  nearly,  if  not 
quite,  equal  to  the  value  of  all  property  in  that  country,  whether  it 
be  rich  or  poor,  prosperous  or  unprosperous,  and  you  cannot  change 
to  the  extent  gentlemen  have  supposed,  the  relation  of  debtor  and 
creditor,  or  thus  diminish  the  resources  of  the  debtors  witlioiit  a 
cra-sli,  a  wa.ste,  ;;nd  desolation  such  as  has  never  been  experienced. 
Suppose  a  man  has  purcha.sed  .'?!l(t,00<)  worth  of  i)roperty  at  present 
prices,  and  given  his  bond  for  it;  you  reduce  its  value  one-half,  an<l 
it  is  worth  •'r'o.dOi).  How  is  it  possibh;  that,  with  resources  thus  re- 
duced, most  debtors  can  ever  pay  ? 

IJut,  sir,  you  caiuiot  maintain  a  state  of  things  such  as  has  been 
supi)osed.  You  iriay  embarrass  and  distress  us,  as  you  have  done, 
l)Ut  this  l)ill  in  the  end,  works  out  no  such  advantai^es  as  are  antici- 
j)-ifed  for  the  planters.  'I'lie  theory  contains  in  itself  a  |)rinci|)le  that 
will  defeat  the  end  in  view,  (to  on,  sir,  if  you  pleiise,  an<I  so  legis- 
late, as  to  bring  to  the  cotton  jdanters  the  extraordinary  profits  antici- 
pated, at  tlie  expense  of  the  other  branches  of  industry;  how  long  will 
it  be  before  that  pursuit  will  be  overloaded  with  competitors,  till  the 
market  will  br-  inundated  \\ifli  cottf)ii,  and  its  j)rice  fall  jur-t  in 
the  ratio  you  have  stimulated  ils  produrti«ui  '.  Down  it  will — down 
it  must,  by  the  laws  of  trade,  come  to  a  level  with  the  fall  ol'  other 
productions.  And  wli;  t  will  be  gained  by  the  whole  process. 
Nothing;  absolutely  nothing,  except  that  it  will  take  mori"  of  our 
labor  and  more  of  our  productions  to  buy  foreign  merchandize;    our 


14 

rraiii  will  turn  literally  into  a  loss.  This  is  capable,  I  think  of  de- 
monstration, if  it  (loos  not  nlrendy  snflicioully  appear  ;  but  1  have  no 
time  to  iMiiar^ic,  intcrc'stin«T  and  all-important  as  the  subject  is. 

What  motive  can  we  have,  sir,  to  reduce  wages  and  the  value  of 
property  ?  WIumi  did  the  sun  ever  shine  upon  a  laboring  people  so 
blest  as  those  of  our  country  have  been?  Whore  have  ihey  ever 
been  able  by  industry  to  feed,  clothe,  and  educate  themselves  so 
well?  The  history  of  the  world  proves  nothing  more  certainly — 
nothing  with  clearer  demonstration,  than  that  where  wages  are  low- 
est there  is  the  greatest  poverty  and  sulTering ;  there  the  condition 
of  the  laborer  is  most  forlorn  and  wretched ;  there  is  the  lenst  moral 
and  intellectual  culture  ;  and  there  our  race  is  simk  into  the  depths 
of  political  degradation,  incapable  of  raising  itself  to  that  lofty  eleva- 
tion attained  by  a  free  enlightened  People,  capable  of  governing 
their  own  alfairs.  It  tends  to  the  opposite  of  every  thing  dearest  to 
us,  for  the  descent  will  carry  with  it  not  only  wages,  but  all  the  high 
([ualities  which  fit  us  to  be  what  we  are — free  and  independent. 
This  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  all  that  can  be  said  upon  the  subject. 

Such  is  the  remedy  for  the  disease  which  alllicts  our  country  ;  and, 
while  its  advocates  shadow  forth  its  evils  far  beyond  any  conception 
of  mine,  if  the  bill  be  carried  into  effect,  as  has  been  proposed  here,  I 
m.ust  confess  that  I  see  in  it  nothing  to  soothe  or  relieve  the  Public 
— nothing  to  restore  confidence,  which  is  the  great  and  desirable 
end — nothing  to  avert  future  panics — nothing  to  stop  this  scramble 
after  the  crold  and  silver  aoing  on  between  us  and  other  countries — 
nothing  that  h::s  healing  power  enough  to  revive  and  maintain  pros- 
perity. 

But,  sir,  much  as  remains  to  be  said,  I  must  draw  to  a  close,  as 
my  object  was  merely  to  notice  some  leading  remarks  of  Senatora 
which  have  developed  the  new  and  extraordinary  doctrines  of  this  Ad- 
ministration. I  was  anxious  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  the  great  mass 
of  the  People,  who  acquire  their  support  by  labor,  and  whose  interests, 
as  laying  at  the  basis  of  all  pror>peritv,  I  have  at  all  times  and  on  all 
fitting  occasions,  espoused  and  maintained  with  whatever  of  ability  I 
possess.  In  this,  sir,  I  have  taken  great  and  sincere  satisfaction, 
believing  it  to  be  the  great  end  of  our  free  Government,  and  the  only 
sure  means  of  sustainin'j  it.  In  the  name  and  in  behalf  of  that  wreat, 
powerful  and  enlightened  class  of  my  fellow-citizens  of  Massachu- 
setts, whom  I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  I  enter  my  solemn  pro- 
test against  the  doctrines  here  advanced  ;  and  if  my  voice  could 
reach  them  in  their  dwellings,  their  shops,  and  on  the  decks  of  their 
vessels,  1  would  exhort  thorn  not  to  be  deluded  by  false  theories 
leading  them  on  to  ruin,  but  to  rouse  up  their  energies,  and,  at  the 
ballot  box,  manifest  their  indignation  at  all  attempts  to  oppress 
them  by  diminishing  their  business  and  taxing  their  labors  to  enrich 
others.  I  would  entreat  tlicm  not  to  sit  still  and  be  made  such  as 
they  see  the  distressed  and  impoverished  laborers  of  Europe  and 
Asia. 


15 


NOTES. 

The  statistics  referred  to  in  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Davis,  are  contained  in  Porter's 
Progress  of  the  Nations,  and  Wade's  History  of  the  Middle  and  Working  Classes, 
two  recent  and  respectable  authorities,  relying  for  the  correctness  of  the  facts  con- 
tained in  the  following  extracts  chiefly  upon  tlie  statistics  collected  by  the  Diitish 
Government. 

These  dcvelopements  show  the  farmer  and  all  other  working  men  the  condition  of 
the  working  classes  in  Europe,  and  upon  what  limited  means  they  subsist.  It  is 
tliis  class  of  men  with  whom  they  are  to  run  the  race  of  cheap  production,  and  con- 
sequently of  coarse  and  wretched  existence:  for  the  same  causes  which  reduce 
them  to  hopeless  penury,  will  produce  like  results  here.  If  a  few  pence  a  day  will 
not  support  men  theru,  it  will  fail  to  do  it  here.  The  intelligent  working  man  of 
the  United  States,  will  pause  before  he  precipitates  himself  into  such  irretrievable 
wretchedness  to  cheapen  the  products  of  labor.  He  will  inquire  whethur  it  tends 
to  elevate  or  depress  his  race — whether  the  privileges  and  hopes  of  a  freeman  are 
utterly  delusive,  and  end  in  retracing  his  steps  to  the  degraded  condition  from  which 
we  all  believed  we  had  escaped.  In  his  descent  from  his  present  coiinnanding 
position,  he  may  well  carry  with  him  these  reflections,  sit  down  in  despair,  and 
«<purn  all  the  dazzling  theories  of  self-government  as  illusory,  if  they  leave  him  to 
i>ub>ist  on  the  humble  diet,  and  to  grapple  with  the  sufierings  of  the  n;ost  desolate 
pOi'tion  of  mankind. 

Ifages  in  Fiance. — Calais,  common  laborers  7.Jd  per  day  with  board  and  with- 
out dwelling  ;  Boulogne,  5d  per  day  do.  do.  ;  Nantes  Sd  per  day  without  board 
and  without  dwelling  ;  .Marseilles,  4d  to  7d  per  day  with  board  and  without  dwell- 
ing. The  food  in  some  districts  "  consists  in  rye  bread,  soup  made  of  millet,  cakes 
made  of  Indian  corn,  now  and  then  pome  salt  provisions  and  vegetables,  rarely,  if 
e.'cr,  butcher's  meat."  In  others,  "  wheaten  bread,  soup  made  with  vegetables, 
and  a  little  grease  or  lard  twice  a  day,  potatoes  or  oilier  vegetables,  but  seldom 
butcher's  meat." 

Sweden. — "The  daily  wages  of  a  skilled  agriculturist  are  7(1  or  Sd  ;  whih;  tlio 
unskilled  obtain  no  more  than  3d  or  4d,  aii<l  lioarri  themnelves.  Agriculturists  in 
the  Southern  provinceg  live  upon  salt  fl>li  and  potatoes  ;  in  the  Northern  provin- 
ces porridge  and  rye  bread  form  their  food." 

Bulgaria. — "  I^iborers  aro  paid  at  the  rate  of  8d  per  day  in  the  country  "  with- 
out board. 

Bel'^itnn  — '■  A  skilled  arti/.an  may  earn  in  the  summer  Is  2(1  to  Is  r<d  ;  in  w  in- 
tiT  lOd  to  Is  2(1  ;  unskilled  half  as  much  without  board,  live  upon  ryo  bread,  pota- 
toes and  milk." — Agricultural  laborers  have  lens. 

fJc.rinainj. — "  Danlzig  laborers  •I'id  to  7d  per  day  without  board  ;  Miilhlmrg, 
7d  per  day  do   ;  Ilolstein,  7d  per  day  without  board. 

JVelherlnnds. — South  Holland  laborer^  3d  to  Id  per  day  wilh  board  ;  North  Hol- 
land, 20d  per  day  without  Iniard  ;  .Antwerp,  5d  per  day  do  ;  West  I'laiider«,  Ofiii 
to  104s  per  year  with  board. 

lliity. — Trieslf  laborers  1  2d  per  day  withdut  board  :  do.  Cd  pt!r  day  with  boaid; 
litria,  8J  to  lUd  p«r  ilay  without  bourd  ;  do.  4d  tu   (d  par  day  with   board  ;  I.oiii- 


f  1  o 

barily  4d  to  Sd  per  day  do.  ;  Genoa,  od  to  8d  per  day  do.,  and  willi  lodgings  ; 
Tuscany,  Cd  per  day  without  either. 

Saxony. — "  In  1837  a  man  employed  in  his  own  loom  working  very  dilligently 
fioni  .'Nloudav  njoniiiig  to  Saturday  night,  from  5  o'' clock  in  tlie  morning  until  dusk, 
and  even  at  times  with  a  lamp,  his  wife  assisting  him  in  fniishiug  and  taking  liim 
ti>e  work,  could  not  possibly  earn  niore  than  20  groschen  [about  CO  cents]  per 
''week.  Nor  could  one  who  had  three  children  aged  12  years  and  upwards,  all 
working  at  the  loom  as  well  as  himself,  with  his  wife  employed  doing  up  the  work, 
earn  in  the  whole  more  than  jjjl  weekly." 

jyavigation. — Between  us  and  England  this  is  placed  upon  a  footing  of  equality  ; 
all  advantages  to  our  navigators  being  abrogated.  If  any  interest  can  bear  direct 
competition,  this  is  the  one.  But  let  us  see  the  result  as  set  down  by  Mr.  Porter. 
"  In  1821,"  says  this  writer,  "  the  proportion  of  British  vessels  which  entered  the 
ports  of  the  United  States  was  7  1-5  per  cent,  compared  with  the  American  ton- 
nage employed  in  the  foreign  trade  of  the  United  States  ;  while,  in  1835,  that  pro- 
portion was  increased  to  3f)  per  cent.  The  actual  numbers  in  each  of  the  years 
from  1821  to  1835.  have  been  us  follows. 


British. 

American. 

British. 

American. 

Year. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Year. 

Tons. 

Tona. 

H21. 

55,188 

765,098 

1829 

86,837 

872,959 

1822 

70,669 

787,961 

1830 

87,231 

967,227 

1823 

89,553 

775,271 

1831 

215,887 

922,952 

1824 

67,351 

850,033 

1832 

288,84! 

949,622 

1825 

63,036 

880,754 

1833 

383,487 

1,111,441 

1826 

68,295 

942,206 

1834 

453,195 

1,074,670 

1827 

99,114 

918,361 

1835 

529,922 

1,352,653 

1828 

104,167 

868,381 

The  British   increase  i^;  860  per  cent  ;  the  .\merican  77  per  cent."     Tliis  is  the 
result  of  treaties  and  convtntions  called  reciprocal. 


J.   II    Kasthurn,  Piinter,  18  i:'!:iti.-  Staet,  Boston. 


3  1205  02446  7977      '% 


rr^^      TRBARY 


IHI^MIIIIIIIIIM  °'°'^'^'"  ^'^"'^^'^  FACILITY 

AA    000  588  739    3 


^tw^ojA 


NEWARK,  NJ.  •  WILLIAMSPORT,  PA. 

10$  *N0tLt5.  CAllf. 

BRANTFORD,  ONT. 


MADE  IN  U.  ■.  A. 


